Instead of using vans to run their delivery scheme, the Whole Foods store on Third & 3rd in Brooklyn—which already features impressive sustainability credentials including climate-friendly refrigeration, solar arrays and wind turbines, and a rooftop farm—has partnered with cargo bike specialists People's Cargo to develop custom-built, electric assist delivery bikes complete with cooler and solar panel for recharging.

It's also promising to think that businesses that embrace cargo bikes will now also have an incentive to make their own facilities more bike-friendly, and perhaps even to raise their voice for city-wide bike infrastructure too.